Miscellaneous. 



166 



[August, 1911. 



CURRENT LITERATURE. 



Activities of the Hawaii Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station. 



(Prom the Philippine Agriculturist and 

 forester, Vol. I., January, 1911.) 



(Concluded from June issue, page 551.) 



Shield budding can be set with speed 

 and is applicable to seedlings most advan- 

 tageously. In budding, bud union is pos- 

 sible only in an elliptical line between 

 bark and the part adhering to the bud 

 shield. By cutting a branch above a bud, 

 the latter grows through the elongation 

 of the cells, and if a new bud be inserted 

 under the bark of that branch, provided 

 union takes place, a homologous change 

 in the direction of the grain is effected. 

 While at times an adaptation of inarch- 

 ing is tedious, it is not very uncommon 

 to have it serve successfully. 



Rice. 



In a fertilizer experiment with rice it 

 was found that two hundred pounds per 

 acre (222*2 Kg. per hectare) of a complete 

 fertilizer having the composition : 



6 percent, nitrogen (3 per cent, organic 

 as fish guano, 3 per cent, as sulphate 

 of ammonia). 



9 per cent, phosphoric acid (4 per cent, 

 as water soluble, 5 per cent, as reverted). 



10 per cent, potash as sulphate of 

 potash, and having a net cost of $8"70 

 per acre (P43'50 per hectare) to which 

 transportation and cost of application 

 ($1'30 per acre or P4"25 per hectare) are 

 to be added, gave practically as large 

 yield of paddy as did greater quantities 

 up to eight hundred pounds. Moreover, 

 the results were approximately the same 

 whether applied before the crop was 

 planted or afterward. 



A very interesting experiment has 

 been performed to determine the effect 

 of fertilizers on the composition of rice 

 in its different stages of development. 

 The following is an extract from Bulletin 

 No. 21 on that subject :— 



Ten plats of one-fortieth acre each 

 were chosen and treated as follows : 

 Three plats were not fertilized, forming, 

 therefore, checks ; the remaining seven 

 each received different fertilizers, using 

 the single elements on some, on others 

 various combinations. Nitrogen, in the 

 form of ammonium sulphate, was applied 

 at the rate of sixty pounds of nitrogen 

 per acre, phosphoric acid as superphos- 

 phate at the rate of forty-five pounds of 

 phosphoric acid per acre, and potash as 

 sulphate, at the rate of sixty pounds of 

 potash per acre. No lime was applied, 



since previous tests failed to indicat. 6 

 its need. After thorough preparation 

 the soil was flooded and left partially 

 submerged for several days, after which 

 the fertilizers were applied to the wet 

 soil, thoroughly mixed with the same by 

 hand, and then completely submerged 

 with a very pure artesian water, in 

 which condition it was maintained 

 throughout the experiment, with the 

 single exception of a period of about five 

 days during the flowering period. The 

 water at this time was shut off in order 

 to hasten backward fruiting stems and 

 insure uniformity in ripening. 



The samples for analysis were gathered 

 from each plat at three different stages 

 of development of the plant. The first 

 series were drawn forty-four days from 

 the time of transplanting, or previous 

 to the formation of flowers, transplant- 

 ing having been done when the seedlings 

 were from twenty to thirty days old ; 

 the second series, at the time of full 

 flowering ; and the third, at full maturity 

 and normal harvest. All these samples 

 were carefully uprooted to secure the 

 entire plant, roots and all. 



The experiment has been made with 

 two different crops of rice, one with the 

 spring, and the other with the fall crop. 

 The following results have been drawn, 

 as conclusions from the analysis of the 

 samples obtained as above mentiond. The 

 summary of the results is as follows : — 



1. Fertilization with nitrogen, either 

 with or without minerals, greatly 

 increased the growth of the rice at all 

 periods of its development. Minerals 

 alone, or in conduction with nitrogen, 

 slightly increased the growth in the 

 spring crop, but in the fall a correspond- 

 ing decrease attended this application. 



2. The percentage of nitrogen in the 

 dry matter, at the first harvest of each 

 crop, was considerably increased by 

 nitrogen fertilizer, and was still further 

 increased by the application of minerals 

 in addition to nitrogen. The peicentage 

 of nitrogen in the mature plant was not 

 materially changed by the fertilizers, 



3. The dry matter from the plat fer- 

 tilized with the complete fertilizer con- 

 tained at every period of growth a higher 

 percentage of potash than from the 

 plats fertilized with nitrogen only. The 

 application of minerals alone resulted 

 in a decreased absorption of potash, 



4. The percentage of phosphoric acid 

 in the dvy matter at the first period was 

 influenced somewhat by the fertilizers. 

 In subsequent growth no difference in 

 the phosphoric acid content was found. 



